Strangers in the world

Sunday

Sep 1, 2019 at 9:47 AM

We’ve been thinking about the Christian life and suffering. I’d like to begin a series through First Peter. Peter’s first letter is short, containing only 105 verses, and is full of encouragement and instruction for Christians of all ages. Peter mingles doctrinal instruction and godly exhortation together in a way that calls believers to live holy lives before the Lord and to do so, always remembering that they have been called and set apart by the work of God.

This letter was written to encourage certain believers who were facing difficult times. The first verse gives us an outline of the whole book. “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.”

Peter firsts speak to the believers about what it means to be elect, by God. God is the one who has called them to himself. Next, he will turn to speak to them about what it means to be exiles in the world. Christians live in this world but are not of this world. Lastly, he will encourage them as those who are dispersed. He will look to the sufferings of Christ as a reminder that believers are called to walk in the way of their master: first suffering, then glory.

This letter will help us to orient our lives in this world while continually reminding us of the world to come. Peter does not mean that we live detached from this world (and our responsibilities) but; rather, always keeping before us that as believers our hope is not to be, ultimately, in this world.

He introduces himself as an ‘apostle,’ one who was sent with an official message. The apostles were witnesses to Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. He first describes the believers as ‘elect.’ It carries with it the idea of being ‘chosen.’ It means to be ‘called out’ from the world. This word as it is used in the New Testament always refers to persons who were chosen for inclusion among God’s people as recipients of great privilege and blessing.

We are immediately confronted with a question: how can Peter know that everyone who receives this letter is truly elect, even among those to whom he is sending it? The answer is to deal with those, in the church, charitably unless they show by their life and unrepentance that they are not believers.

Peter also addresses them as those who are exiles. This concept of chosen exiles forms a frame around the whole letter. By connecting his letter to the idea of exile, Peter is picking up on another Old Testament image. The people of Israel were promised land from the time that God called Abraham. The land came with certain requirements and Israel entered into a covenant with the Lord. They would be completely obedient and receive a blessing or they would be cast out of the land for their disobedience. Due to their sins, they were sent into exile to Babylon.

Ezekiel was sent as a prophet to those who were in exile. God spoke through him about a day when they would be gathered together and made into the people of God again. God would himself fulfill all the requirements of the covenant and he would put a new heart and a new spirit in them so that they could be his faithful people.

Peter sees these promises as fulfilled in Christ. The twist is that these exiles have done nothing wrong. Peter picks up on this because the term ‘exile’ was used in the first century to designate someone who did not hold citizenship in the place where he resided and was therefore viewed as a foreigner, a stranger, an alien, or a sojourner.

As foreigners, they were not to hold to the values, practice, and customs of their host culture. Neither full assimilation nor complete withdrawal marked the exile. Exile is a good term to describe the Christian in this life. No matter where or when we live – so long as it is before Christ’s return – we are in exile.

The final term, used to describe the believers, is ‘dispersion.’ This means, literally, those who are scattered. They are not just sojourners, waiting for the Promised Land, but they are in a real way displaced. For the Christian, our King is in heaven and we wait for his return. This causes us to see our life in this world differently. We’ll explore this more in the weeks to come.

— Pastor Everett Henes, the pastor of the Hillsdale Orthodox Presbyterian Church, can be reached at pastorhenes@gmail.com.

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